By A Guns Save Life Member:
Imagine arriving at work and you must disarm before entering your workplace. Not too difficult as many folks work in gun free, easy victim zones, right? Imagine though being responsible for the safety of scores of young people in addition to yourself in that easy victim zone.
Yeah, you get active threat training from your local PD to prepare for the worst. At the same time, you are expected to protect all those children. Without a firearm or any other meaningful weapon. Even if you're highly skilled with a gun, you cannot discretely carry it.
I work as a public school teacher with decades under my belt. In that time, I have noticed changes in education, our kids and society in general.
Years ago, administrators told us to lock our kids in a classroom and have them hide in event of a spree killer. Personally, I thought that a bad idea at the time, and my plan has always involved getting the heck out of there with my kids.
Sure enough, the "hide under desks" plan proved a huge failure in Columbine – and in plenty of other spree killings in schools and universities.
Will I let my students become sitting ducks? No way.
Today, administrators emphasize "Run, Hide, Fight". Better, I say. In my mind, the best thing to do is to get out of Dodge.
So how are teachers supposed to protect our precious youngsters? Well, the teachers with a clue will use fire extinguishers, and sticks. Some of my fellow teachers working in industrial arts or in agriculture have all manner of tools that make improvised weapons. Ditto for the chemistry teacher. Even the art teacher has Exacto knives. None of these tools makes a teacher an equal to a bad person with evil in their hearts and a gun or knife in their hands.
Unfortunately, many teachers don't give much consideration to this scenario aside from turning the lights off, closing their classroom door and participating in a deadly game of hide and seek.
Personally, I have spent many hours planning what I can do to get my students out of his path and if possible, to stop him. I say "his" because the majority of school spree killers are male.
Typically, these killers are awkward, socially isolated, and oftentimes bullied. They always give clues about what they are planning. No student just snaps one day, takes a gun to school, and creates havoc.
Of course, school spree killings always bring out the anti-gunners to dance in the blood of the dead.
Folks, we don’t have a gun problem. We have a societal problem.
By the way, politicians, criminals don't play by the rules. Even if you take guns from all the good guys, the bad guys will still have them. We cannot even keep knives and guns out of the hands of prisoners in jail!
At the same time, politicians, your rules disarming the good guys in schools don't make anyone safer. Only a fool thinks a cheap little tin sign proclaiming "severe penalties" for bringing a gun to school deters a loser intent on mass murder.
We protect politicians like you with guns. We protect famous people, rich people and important people with guns. What's more, we protect our money, jewels and other valuables with guns. Yet under current law, you make us protect our most precious and vulnerable children with a sign that says "Gun Free Zone". And when there's a problem, we call for good guys with guns. Of course, while the police respond, we play sitting ducks. Remember, each six to ten seconds is another child killed or injured in these attacks.
Protection can be in the classroom down the hall or parked across town. Which would you rather have in your child's school? Remember, each six to ten seconds, another child is killed or wounded.
I will protect your child, even possibly giving my life to do so. Yet without a firearm for protection, well, the odds are heavily stacked against me. And your child. Let that sink in.
As these new April 20th school walk-outs for gun control are being planned, please talk to your school-age kids about gun laws. Who makes these laws? Who obeys them?
Educate your kids. Are they protesting or counter-protesting? If so, what and how? Whose attention are they trying to get? Are they being used as props? Are they just wanting to get out of class?
Everyone has a right to free speech, but not so much during school hours.
In closing, please be responsible with your firearms. Keep them secure and out of the reach of unauthorized persons. It is our job to keep our families safe.
Dems want to tie our hands behind our backs so criminals can victimize us.
Let's arm our school staff – the ones who want to carry – to protect our children. Last time I was in Springfield at an IGOLD, I noticed these clowns have plenty of men with guns protecting them. Good guys with guns protect our so-called stars and other VIPs. Good guys with guns no doubt protect the president's son in school.
Why not let the little people protect their children with good people and their guns?